Don't Blink
by heyitslandy
Summary: A life that is already in shambles is about to be rocked even more. What do you do when you find out the secrets of your past? Secrets that have been kept from you for decades, Theressa and Mercedes are about to find out. Both of them just have to remember not to blink, or it could cost one of them their lives.
1. Moving Day

Chapter 1: Moving day

Mercedes

"Get all your crap in the truck and move."

Mercedes could hear the grating sound of Roger Till's voice as he stomped through the house giving orders.

"Roger we're moving as fast as we can." Hand frozen in mid air with a ball of clothes, Mercedes stopped moving, stopped breathing, stopped everything.

"What did you say?" Cold and dry were the words that came out of his mouth, with the tell-tell slur that was just Roger.

"Nothing, I didn't say anything. I'm sorry baby." Her mother Susan Till knew not to make any sudden movements in moments like this. The last thing she wanted was for Mercedes to see what she knew Roger was thinking about doing.

"We need to go, someone may call them again" Mercedes replied making sure to keep her head down and her voice low. Interacting with her step-father was like trying to calm down a rabid animal. It seemed as though he didn't hear a word she said as he took one step forward, and then another, and another, until he was standing directly in front of her mother, staring down at her with those disgusting murky green eyes. He stood there for about half a minute before he leaned down and whisper in her ear a cold reply of.

"I will deal with you later." Neither of them moved until he was out of the room. Roger took up the space in any room he went into. He would either make you feel like the most special person in the world or the scum of the earth. The scum of the earth bit was usually saved for either Mercedes and her mother. The hate that oozed from him coated you and made you feel like you were drowning in those green eyes of his and had no way of coming up for air. Roger just did that and he liked it like that. He liked that he got a response without uttering one syllable.

When he was completely out of the room they finally started to move. Susan Till knew what that one line meant, it was pretty simple living with Roger. "Mercedes, hurry up, don't take anything you don't need. One duffle bag." Mercedes rolled her eyes, because both her and her mother knew that everything she had could fit in the raggedy large duffle bag.

"Where are we going this time?" Mercedes asked her mother.

"I don't know, your father didn't tell me, just know that he's taking us somewhere safe." Mercedes heard the two truths and lie that her mother had just told. It was true that she didn't know where they were going, Roger ran this family, if that's what you wanted to call it. He liked "his girls" walking on eggshells around him, trying to guess his every move, living in fear. The two lies, Roger Till was not Mercedes father and anywhere that he was no one was safe.

"Let's go!" All three of them jumped in the black van and drove to wherever Roger was taking them this time.

The drive from California to Ohio felt like years rather than hours. By the time they got there it was dark and Roger was still behind the wheel drunk. Any type of alcohol was like a shot of energy for Roger there were times where he wouldn't sleep for days, those days were referred to as the dark days by Mercedes. She'd try to make herself as invisible as possible and stay out of the house as long as she could.

As they pulled up to the house that she knew they would be renting, because they never made any permanent commitments. She was kinda in awe, it was actually a nice looking house. It was painted a light blue with a white door and white trimmings. The numbers 551 were printed on the building in beautiful script. She couldn't see much else in the dark, one of the perks of moving around so much she noted was seeing so much the world had to offer. Mercedes always tried to make one connection in whatever city they lived in, that way when she turned 18 and got herself out of the hell she was living in she would have someone to help her get started. Lima, Ohio seemed like a nice place, just based off of that one fact she knew they wouldn't be here long. This family didn't do nice or homey. They liked distant and neighbors that minded their own business.

Following Roger and her mom up the white washed concrete path to the door, the observations of the house stopped because she knew what was going to start when those doors closed behind them. She hadn't forgotten Roger's threat, and neither had her mother. She'd known already that Roger hadn't forgotten either, but she had hoped. When the door was opened and then closed, she'd known the hope was useless When Roger grabbed her mother and dragged her up the stairs and locked the bedroom door that he had claimed for the two of them.

"Welcome home." Mercedes whispered in the darkness.


	2. First Day Again Part

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of it's characters**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter:)**

Chapter 2: First Day Again Part 1

" Alright, you've got this girl."

Mercedes tiptoed out of her room and peeked around to make sure Roger wasn't out yet and then went to the kitchen to grab a granola bar before going outside to get in her car. She drove off without even making a sound to alert either of them that she was gone. Thank God Roger had decided to send her car ahead, she didn't know what she would have done if he had forced her to leave it behind.

When she pulled up in front of Mckinley she took a deep cleansing breath before stepping out of her car. She noticed all the standard cliques as she walked up to the school. There were a few oddities here and there, but for the most part, everyone flocked to their own kind. She took notice of how friendly they all were , she got so many greetings this morning along with compliments on her 'new style', it was both refreshing and freaky. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard.

She walked into the office and was met by the kind smile of an older hispanic woman sitting at the front desk.

"Buenos dias, Tessa. How are you today?" Mercedes looked around for a minute and then realized that she was talking to her.

"Hi, no, my name is Mercedes Till, my step father called in my new registration last week."

"Not funny Tessa, how did you know we were getting a new student today anyways?" The hispanic woman's gray eyes sparkled with amusement and Mercedes gave her a funny look.

"I am the new student, my name is Mercedes Till, my step father Roger Till called in the new registration last week. You must have me confused with someone else."

"Mornin' Ms. Hernandez." The woman's eyes went from confused to astonished right before Mercedes eyes. When she turned around to see who had given the greeting all she could see was curly black hair running down the hallway. It was like the lady was watching a tennis match the way her head was moving back and forth, from the empty entrance to her. Mercedes was starting to get annoyed, she'd heard the warning bell on her way to the office, and she knew the second bell would ri-, nope there it was. Great, now she was going to walk in late and be introduced to the class without a chance to look around and observe any of her new classmates.

"Are you who I speak to about my schedule, am I in the right place?" Mercedes looked around confused and agitated, this school was already different from anywhere that she had been, maybe the differences went beyond the too friendly kids.

"N-no, I am who you speak to, it's just that, you look just like one of the students we have at the school. You could literally be her twin." Maria Hernandez was astonished by the similarities that Mercedes had to Tessa. If it weren't for the eyes she would have sworn that she had found her long lost twin. "I-I'm sorry. Yes, I have your schedule." She handed Mercedes the pre-made welcome packet she had for her. "Your first class is with Mr. Hamilton, AP English, room 115. Do you need me to get you a guide?"

Mercedes was giving her a funny look, but she just couldn't stop staring. The similarities were uncanny. "I'm sorry, you might run into Tessa, oh no, you will run into Tessa, she's in Mr. Hamilton's class this morning too. It's unbelievable how alike you two are physically. Wow." Maria tried to stop staring, she really did, she just couldn't make her eyes look anywhere else.

"Ok, I'm going now, thanks." completely and thoroughly weirded out Mercedes started backing out of the office, and still this lady would not take her eyes off of her. She could still feel the eyes on her as she walked down the hall.

"Ok, you've still got this."she whispered to herself, realizing full well that this school was nothing like all the others, it seemed that she was oi new territory. "New territory that you are about to conquer." she said a little louder with more conviction.

"You still talking to yourself Jones. I thought that we decided that it was crazy lookin not alluring." Mercedes turned at the sound of the smooth, deep voice, and froze. She had stopped moving, stopped breathing. OMG, she thought, she needed to breath. Had she stopped breathing.

"Jones, you ok?" Gorgeous clear emerald eyes looked at her imploringly. Eyes that were framed by a face that proved there was a God in Heaven. She should say something is all that she could think, but nothing would come out. She couldn't say anything because she couldn't seem to breath. Breath Mercedes, breath! Her mind shouted at her lungs and her vocal chords to stop being stupid but the traitorous bunch wouldn't listen.

"Jones, do you need me to go get the nurse?" The boy came closer as she simultaneously took a step back. Although her normal body functions refused to cooperate, her 'fight or flight' reaction seemed to be working just fine. He stopped with a hurt expression on his face and then it seemed like a moment of clarification came over him as his features hardened. "So you've heard huh? This is how it's going to be from now on then." Mercedes stayed silent, her body still not wanting to cooperate. "Fine, I get it. I just thought you were better than this Jones. See you when I see you then." Then the boy was gone and Mercedes still couldn't move or breath for about 15 seconds, trying to process what had just happened. When all of the tension finally released from her body, she thought how she was definitely in uncharted waters and would need a helping hand from a friend to get through this day. She was already late a quick 5 minute phone call wouldn't hurt anything.

She went into the first bathroom she could find, checked all of the stalls and then entered the number that she had memorized by heart. It rang once before she heard the all too familiar voice of her best friend.

"What's up chika? Tell me everything, from the moment you left the house to now." Kelly Tolva shouted into the phone. Mercedes couldn't help but giggle at her friends ignorance to how loud she talked. Being that Kelly was deaf in one ear, she just never saw the need to change the tone or level of her voice. Ever.

"I don't have much time. I'm actually suppose to be in class." Mercedes left it there.

"Tell me what's wrong." Kelly demanded.

"I don't really know, this place, this school. It's just different is all. The kids, the staff, everything is different here. People keep staring at me. You know me, I like 1 or 2 friends max, but all of these people act like they've known me their entire lives. It's unsettling. You know I don't need nor do I want anyone in my business." Mercedes said, playing with the necklace her real father had given her when he was still here.

Kelly knew that everything Mercedes had just said was true about her, she was a private person and chose her friends accordingly. Kelly knew that she didn't even know everything there was about Mercedes and her family, and she was her one and only friend, she knew that for a fact. "Maybe this is a good thing Mercedes, maybe this is a prelude to what's to come. Maybe your parents are finally putting down roots." Kelly knew enough about Sandra and Roger Till to know that Mercedes was not their first priority. The way that they moved around and left Mercedes on her own proved that, but Mercedes always fought through it. She always came out stronger through whatever nonsense her parents were going through at the time. She always prayed that they would get their act together for their daughters sake, but it just never seemed to workout. If this place was as different as Mercedes said it was maybe it meant that her prayers were finally being answered. "You should reach out to all of those people, make some new friends. Friends that you don't have to talk to through a phone or computer every time." Kelly was met with silence. "Come on Cedes, you know that I love you, but...this just isn't normal. The way that you've been living. Keeping everyone at arm's length. Maybe it's time for a change."

"I don't need to make any new friends. You know that we'll probably be gone within the next year. What's the point." Mercedes replied in a desperate whisper, trying to get Kelly to understand without telling her what she didn't need to know. She thought she knew where this conversation was going, she had suspected for the last two or three moves.

"Well, maybe it's time for a change Mercy. I mean come on, what girl that is as awesome as you only has 1 friend and no boyfriend. Ever. I just don't understand why you won't make any connections." Kelly paused, "I just...I worry about you is all."

Mercedes held the tears that she could fill building starting up from the rock that was at the bottom of her stomach. No one has ever loved her like Kelly loves her. She knew that she had a special friend in her, but she just couldn't share all of her secrets. There were just too many.

"Well stop. I promise you I'm fine. I promise to make friends ok. I promise to...try."

"Well that's better than the flat out no that you usually give me, so I'll take it. What is it that you needed to call me about anyways?" Kelly replied, knowing full well that she was most likely lying.

"Well, this should make you happy, I met a boy today. A gorgeous sapphire eyed boy. It was crazy, one minute I was making my way to my first class, then this ohmygosh make you wanna break out in song voice said something. Like all of these other weirdos he called me by a different name. I'll have to tell you all about that later, but as soon as I turned around it was like my body completely shut down. If he hadn't of walked away, I'm telling you I would be dead right now, from lack of oxygen."

Kelly laughed, "A boy that can stop Mercedes Till right in her tracks, I like him already. Try to take a picture next time you see him, I have got to see this guy." Kelly joked. Mercedes did not think it was funny, Kelly had never had any problems with boys before, the girl was freakin' gorgeous. The only similarity between her and Mercedes was their complexion, after that, Kelly had all the right curves in all the right places, there was not a misplaced lump or bump anywhere on her body. Her hair was cut short in a bangin' pixie cut that let all the straight and aligned features of her face do their thing. Her eyes were this ridiculous shade of hazel honey, that Mercedes swore she saw bees side eye on more than one occasion. Not to mention her style, Kelly was one of those girls that you took as she came, because she was not changing for anyone. Kelly didn't waste her money on the trashy outfits, the ones that left nothing to the imagination. She had a style so her own, that no one would ever be ever to duplicate it, Mercedes was sure of it.

"It's not funny. I can't be _that girl."_ Mercedes said with such conviction, Kelly had to really work hard not to release the laugh that was

tickling the back of her throat. "Look, I've gotta go, I promise to call you later to finish this conversation. Please don't say find a friend that

you can talk it out through here, because no one but you is going to be able to help me not pass out and die the next time I see that green

eyed magician, or whatever he is. Love you, bye" Before Kelly could respond Mercedes was gone and it was probably a good thing too,

because all Kelly could do was laugh, and that definitely would not have been the appropriate response.

 **What did you lovely people think. I have had this story trapped in my head for weeks and I just can't seem to think about anything else. I can't wait to see what you guys think about it. Please review, the good and the bad are both appreciated. Thanks for reading:)**


	3. First Day Again Part 2

**Thanks for the reviews, I hope you guys like this new chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: Once again I do not own Glee or any of it's characters**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter 3: First Day Part 2

Mercedes

After her call with Kelly, Mercedes ran off to find her class. At least finding the buildings and room numbers were simple, she thought. Once she found the class she took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A petite brunette opened the door with a gasp and the teacher who at first had no intention of stopping to address the late student took a double take at the door. Mercedes rolled her eyes when she saw the teacher Mr. something or other making the same tennis match motion that Mrs. Hernandez was making this morning.

"Not that this moment could have been any more awkward." she muttered to herself. She stood there for a minute trying to convince herself to go into the dumb classroom, when the teacher stopped and turned to face the class.

"Tessa, is there something you need to tell me?" Mercedes recognized the name as the one Mrs. Hernandez kept calling her and the annoyance began to creep back in. The need to see the resemblance and to understand what all the fuss was about outweighed the awkwardness of the situation. The brunette at the door still hadn't let her in and the teacher looked to shell shocked to give the order. So Mercedes took matters into her own hands, she had to nip whatever this was in the bud before it got to out of hand. She realized right in that moment, that these students weren't friendly, they just thought they knew her, they thought she was this Tessa and that was just not going to cut it. This ended now.

"Tessa, it is definitely about time that me and you meet. You've kinda been the cause of a lot of my frustration today." Mercedes heard the audible gasp and then the fervent whispers the second she walked into the classroom. She decided to ignore them, this was not ok! She had come to the school with the expectation of making a few acquaintances that she could link herself to. She had learned from experience the harder you tried to disappear in a high school the more people paid attention to you, so she was done with the loner bit. She just always tried her best to be as close to normal as she could possibly get when she was in public, but the whole school gawking at her because she resembled another girl, was not on her list of things to do.

"What the-"

Oh my gosh"

Mercedes stopped when she saw all the awestruck eyes on her. As she looked around the room, trying to figure what was going on, she stopped. As soon as Mercedes saw the girl sitting in the second row dead smack in the middle of the room she knew exactly what the big deal was.

"Tessa, that girl stole your face." It took a second for Mercedes to take the whole scene in. The girl sitting in the seat, Tessa, stood up with bright brown eyes that mirrored Mercedes and just stared. Mercedes couldn't really blame her, and she mentally apologized to Mrs. Hernandez, because all _she_ could do was stare.

"How do you know?" Tessa startled and if possible her eyes got even bigger at Mercedes question.

"How do I know what?" Tessa asked in a whisper.

"How do you know I stole your face? What if you stole my face?"

"That's actually a legit question, I mean how do we know you didn't steal her face." A voice came from somewhere in the back of the room.

"I mean, I guess I could have…"

"Ok, hold on just a minute, just hold on." The teacher, Mercedes still couldn't remember the poor man's name, here she was derailing his class and she couldn't even remember his name. "Everyone just have a seat, young lady what is your name?"

"Mercedes Till." she turned and gave him an 'i'm sorry look', "I'm starting today, my step-father registered me last week. I'm sorry, I can't remember your name."

"That's ok, just everyone have a seat. Have a seat." As all the students made their way to their seats. Mercedes stood awkwardly at the front of the classroom, noticing with a bad taste in her mouth, that the only seat available was next to her doppelganger.

"Theressa is our resident one woman welcoming committee, so whenever a new student comes to the class they automatically get linked to her." The brunette who answered the door stated. Mercedes was tempted to walk out of the class, go back home and try to convince Roger and her mom that it was time for them to move again. She was sure she could come up with a logical reason. Alien attack, the sky was falling, some girl stole her face.

"Ms. Jones, please have a seat." The teacher requested warily, knowing that even if he tried to teach, after this anything he said would go in one ear and out the other.

"Till, my last name is till." Mercedes replied absentmindedly, as she walked to the empty seat. "Your name is Theressa Jones, Jones, where do I recognize that last name from?"

"My dad owns a dentist practice, it's called Jones Dentistry, 'where at least with your teeth, you can keep up with the Joneses!', I know completely corny, but he loves it." Theressa said holding her hands up in a surrender stance. Theressa smirked and Mercedes did a slight smile.

"I haven't seen much of the town yet, so that's not it, but I will be sure to make it one of my stops. I heard it somewhere else. I, wait, the green eyed magician." Mercedes felt her body tense just thinking about the boy from the hallway.

"The green eyed magician?" Confusion showed through with an expression that Mercedes knew all too well, she'd seen it on her own face over the years. Every time they had to up and move for no apparent reason too Mercedes, for the way her father just disappeared one day, trying to understand how her mother could have ever even entertained the idea of marrying Roger. Her life was a wreck, one that she needed to keep under wraps, which she couldn't do if the school was talking about how she and the girl across from her were starring in the remake of Face Off.

"This guy I met in the hall. He called me by your name. Your last name. I think he may be mad at you actually. Look, we need to talk." Theressa looked at Mercedes expectantly and Mercedes took an uncomfortable glance around the room. "In private"

"Oh, right totally." she nodded enthusiastically with a smile on her face now. Mercedes was trying not to freak out right now, but the girl staring back at her, this girl, Mercedes could have sworn that she was actually enjoying this. Enjoying it!

"Yeah, you two can have that talk later. When you are not in the middle of my AP class. We've got stuff to learn. Habits to break, like your love affair with commas, yeah, yeah you know who I'm talking too." The teacher said making eye contact with a few of the students. Mercedes slapped her knee then.

"Mr. Hamilton, that's your name right?" Mercedes said with a proud smile.

"That's right, I'm Mr. Hamilton and this is my AP English class, so let's focus on that with the time that we have left, all fifteen minutes of it." Mr. Hamilton said dejected, "Oh, just forget it, Mercedes why don't you introduce yourself to the class, I mean past the fact of you and Tessa." Once again Mercedes was the center of attention, this was beginning to be a bad habit, one that would continue throughout the entire school day. Apparently Tessa knew everyone and everyone knew Tessa. Every class she went in began and ended the same way, all eyes on her, all conversation about her and directed toward her, and of course frustrated teachers who weren't able to get their classes back on focus. Mercedes wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow she had a brand new schedule, she was officially a teacher's worst nightmare. She had somehow avoided Tessa the entire day, the girl was like Kelly in a thrift store, somehow she always found what she was looking for, no matter where it was hiding. By the time she got home she was so tired and just oh so grateful that Roger was nowhere in sight. Most likely he was out somewhere getting drunk and would come in as the devil he was, but she was grateful for this peace, she took it while she could and drifted off to sleep.

So, what did you think? Please let me know, review please. Good or bad reviews, all are worth it.

 **Thanks for reading!**


	4. The Beginning of the End

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of it's characters.**

 **Enjoy!**

The Beginning of the End

Logan Dale had plenty to do, there was a stack of paperwork on the corner of his desk, his email needed to be checked, and he was sure there were a couple of dozen cops looking at his closed door warily. Being the Lima police chief he was use to the business, not because Lima had any major crimes, but more because people wanted Lima to have major crimes. When the city's residents watched too much "Law and Order", "Criminal Minds" or any cop show really they began to get paranoid. He made sure to keep up with season premieres and new cop series that came out just for that reason. His residents were a bunch of busy bodies that had nothing to do, scratch that, they had plenty to do. They just chose to call his station every 5 minutes with a suspicious character, unsub, or perp that was skulking around the neighbor. With these calls came loads of paperwork that had to be reviewed, confirmed, and verified. No, he definitely had plenty to do, assuming that he was right and there was a new cop show premiering tonight and one premiering a new season, then the phones would be lighting up this week. That had all went out the door as soon as his niece came flying through his closed office door. He would have actually preferred the mundane business of his office to this.

Tessa Jones couldn't believe what was happening. Had she just gone home and started her homework, none of this would be happening right now. After meeting Mercedes today she just had to talk to somebody, usually that would have been her mother, but apparently she had decided to go to lunch with an old friend. So, instead she went to go meet her uncle at the police station, she knew that he might not be that busy; assuming that she was sure about the premieres this week, he still had a day or 2 of peace. When she came in she was not expecting the reaction she got, she thought her intro was pretty good, "Hey, Unc is there something you and my parents need to tell me because I think I found my long lost twin today." She was giggling right after she'd said it, but all of that stopped when her Uncle stood up and stared at her. He'd reacted so fast that his chair had basically been thrown into the rear wall. Tessa had jumped as well, her heart now trying to beat it's way out of her chest and when he came around the desk, she was sure she had done something wrong. Theressa had seen her Uncle wear many expressions, being the police chief he had to master many of them. The "i'm going to let you lie, even though I already know that you're lying and dig yourself into the deepest hole you can", was probably her favorite. He'd get this smirk and his eyes would be dancing with hidden amusement, amusement that only his closest friends and family would be able to detect. This one though, this look she had only seen once, she had almost forgotten about it. When Tessa was 14 her uncle took her and her 2 older brothers to the fair, on their way home she was in the passenger seat of her uncle's black SUV when a drunk driver ran a red light and ran right into them. Tessa was out for a couple of days, when she woke up, she had a broken jaw, right arm, and fractured right femur. Once she was able to get through the fog that the drugs and the pain had completely wrapped her in, she was finally able to communicate with her family, the first face she saw was her uncle's. He hadn't, slept, eaten, worked, or anything else really since the accident. He hadn't moved from his spot next to her hospital bed, he still had on the clothes from the night of the accident, 4 days worth of facial hair on his face, and his eyes, she would never forget his his eyes that day. His eyes were bloodshot and the brown of iris's was like liquid amber gold. She'd never seen him like that before and it had scared her. Uncle Logan was the police chief, he put the bad guys away, he never looked this-she didn't even have a word for it. When he came down to his knees and grabbed her hands she thought that she was hallucinating, and then he looked up and there were tears streaming down his face.

"I thought I'd lost you too." That was all that he had said, she hadn't understood it then, but she was about to get some major clarification. Mercedes Jones had just turned her world upside down and Tessa didn't even realize it yet.

"Tell me everything." Tessa told him everything that had transpired today, from the moment she set foot on to the school grounds that morning. It had been strange for sure, especially everyone asking about her clothes and hair, she had been running late so she didn't have time to ask any questions. She got strange looks the entire way to her first class. None of it made sense until she saw Mercedes. The next challenge was explaining to everyone that she didn't have magic powers that allowed her to change her clothes and style her hair in a matter of seconds, that she wasn't mad at them; it wasn't her who had ignored them this morning, and then on top of all of that she wasn't able to get a hold of Sam to see what damage was done this morning. It had taken her until 3rd period to figure out who the "green-eyed magician" was, Sam came in late and refused to make eye contact with her, then he sped off after class. Then it wasn't until lunch that she figured out why, when the McKinley gossip mill started churning and the news about Sam's family living in the hotel finally got to her. She had tried to find him, she had even stopped by the choir room to see if any of the glee members knew where he was, but no one gave up any information. Even if they knew where he was, she was positive that they wouldn't tell her anyways; it wasn't that the glee club didn't like her, she just wasn't one of them. She was glad that Sam was apart of glee, if there was one thing she knew it was even though they had their spats, they were fiercely protective of each other. Sam may have told them what had gone down this morning with Mercedes or they were just trying to keep him away from the gawkers; either way she had no idea of where he was and she had no idea of how to fix what happened. Especially since she wasn't sure of how much damage control their friendship needed anyways. It didn't matter anyway because it looked like she was going to be here for a long while anyways, by the time she had finished recounting the day's events, her uncle was in action.

"Mercedes Till, she said her full name was Mercedes Till?" The question was asked with a desperation that Tessa didn't recognize, all she could do was nod. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she was sure that Mercedes Till was in big trouble. Her uncle's expression had changed, changed to something she had never seen before. Not worry, not anger, but rage. Rage with a tinge of hope. "Find me everything you can find on Mercedes Till!" he'd shouted out his office door, confused faces began to fulfill Logan's orders. Even though they didn't understand it, Logan Jones was an amazing chief and friend to all of his officers, they would trust him with their lives, and follow him to their deaths. There were no questions just action. "Tessa let's go." he'd ordered in the same no nonsense tone.

"No! What the hell is going on?" she yelled on the verge of panic, she'd just wanted someone to talk to.

"I'll explain everything as soon as I can." Logan said with every ounce of patience he could muster in the moment.

"No, now! I want it explained now! I come in and tell you about some random girl I met at school and you jumpstart the entire precinct. You need to tell me what's going on! _Someone_ needs to tell me what's going on! Right now!" Tessa was frantic now, this was not how she saw this conversation playing out. She wasn't sure what was going on, had she just encountered a serial killer or a psychotic kleptomaniac, she recalled that she talked about stealing and deflecting that off of herself. "Ohmygosh did I just engage in a conversation with a psychotic kleptomaniac serial killer? We need to call my parents, my friends,my-" Mercedes had encountered Sam this morning, she could have heard where he was staying, she could have… "I need to get in touch with Sam right now, she probably killed him! My friend is dead, somebody needs to call 911, somebody call 911!" Tessa was now in the middle of the station trying to figure out why no one was moving.

"Tessa, I need you to trust me right now. We need to go." Her uncle's eyes were panicked and filled with desperation, then she looked around at the uniformed women and men, and felt her face start to heat. She was in the middle of a police station, they were 911. "Let's go Tessa." He didn't wait for her response, he just simply grabbed her hand and walked out of the station. Tessa had a nasty feeling at the bottom of her stomach, was it a ton of lead or concrete sitting down there, she wasn't sure, but what she did know was that her amazement at meeting Mercedes Till had turned to dread.

 **Thanks for reading and the reviews. Please continue to review and let me know what you think.**


	5. I Found Her

Chapter 5: I Found Her

Thanks for the encouraging and constructive reviews. They are all appreciated. A lot of questions should be answered in this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy. I forgot to mention that I fixed the typo in the last chapter. Thanks for being awesome you wonderful people.

"Somebody needs to tell me what's going on right now!" Logan's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach at the sound of his niece's terrified voice. He knew his reaction had been a mistake the second he had fallen to his knees, he also knew their was a possibility that his niece was over exaggerating like she often did. He knew all of this now, but in that moment, the hope had just taken over, the hope that sat right at the bottom of his heart that was tangled with the grief and guilt. That moment had been 16 years in the making, 16 years of hoping, 16 years of making a wrong right. The night that changed all of their lives, the night the unthinkable happened.

He looked at his twin sister and her husband and his heart began to constrict as the chains of guilt began to tighten around it. The lines of worry and grief etched around their tight lipped smiles were almost too much for him to handle. The hope in their eyes, the hope that he put there, had those chains squeezing tighter around his heart. He had to look away.

"It's ok big brother." He looked at his sister Rebecca, a gentle smile gracing her face, her bright brown eyes letting him know that she understood. Letting him know that had it been her, she would have done the same thing, that they would still be standing in her kitchen trying to douse the roaring fire of hope that had come alive. Letting him know that she still had nothing but love for him, even though he knew that he didn't deserve it, not one bit of it. "It's ok, I think it's time that Tessa knew the story, we were going to have to tell her someday anyway." He froze.

"What story? Will someone please tell me something, anything? Please tell me if I should at least be worried about any of my friends, about Sam."

"Tessa, just...just sit down." Logan said, weariness putting an ache in his bones.

"Listen hon-" David Jones started.

"No, I'm doing this."

"Logan, you don't have to. You don't have to-" David started, seeing the guilt that was weighing on Logan, knowing that he was beating himself up, doing what he's been doing for the past 16 years. If it had been up to Logan, he would be the one sitting in the jail cell.

"Yes, I do!" Tessa jumped at the yell that Logan knew she wasn't familiar with, filled with desperation and guilt. He could imagine what he looked like to her right now. "I'm sorry Tessa, David please, just let me do this, she needs to know the true story, not the watered down version that you're going to give her, she needs to know who's at fault."

"The person who's at fault is sitting in a jail cell right now!" Logan saw the flash in David's eyes.

"Alright, everyone just calm down, Logan tell the story, but remember who's at fault." His sister said with a warning in her voice.

Logan looked at Tessa barely containing the tears that were threatening to spill over. "Tess, I...I'm just going to start from the beginning." He took one more glance at his niece, registering the hesitancy in her eyes, the release of the fear as she tapped her fingers to a beat he couldn't quite place, the love that was always there, the love that would disappear after his story was done. With one more glance at Rebecca and David, he began.

"When we found out your mom was pregnant with you, we were so happy, ecstatic actually. She'd had complications with your brother, the doctor told us that she wouldn't be able to have anymore kids. I guess God had other plans though. Anyway, we took such care during the pregnancy. Your mom and dad took time to pray and finally made the decision for your mom to stop working, to ensure that she had a healthy pregnancy, and that the baby...that you would be ok." He stopped to take a breath and prepare himself for what may or may not be in Tessa's eyes when he looked up from his hands. "It wasn't until she went to her second doctor's visit that she found out that she was having twins. Two girls. Two beautiful girls." He heard Tessa's audible gasp and chanced a look at her and saw the shock and the beginning of understanding in her eyes. When he got caught in her gaze he couldn't look away, he deserved whatever he got.

"The doctor told them that they made the right call because he would have put her on bed rest anyway considering her complications from your brother. We were all so relieved, so happy. Your mom stayed home the entire pregnancy and had two healthy baby girls to bring home. You and your sister were beautiful, big brown eyes that just captured anyone that got trapped in their gaze. Including my girlfriend at the time." He stopped to let the anger take root. "Jazmine, wanted to get married, I didn't at the time. I was just starting my career and didn't want anything to distract me from doing it. I wasn't ready for commitment, I should have let her go instead of stringing her along, but I didn't. So she broke up with me, I let her go, I thought it was the right thing to do, I was wrong. I suppose...she wanted me to fight for her, and maybe I should have. The point is she was angry with me, and she expressed it in a volatile way. She knew my schedule and where I worked so she began to stalk me and it went into harassment. I had to change my locks, involve my superiors at my job, change my number, I almost moved because of it at one point." He cringed thinking about all of the crap Jazmine put him through those three months after their break up. He had been advised to take legal actions, but he blamed himself, he had been selfish making empty promises to her. He knew good and well that if he ever did get married it would have been at least 5 years from then. " I was advised to take legal action, but I blamed myself for her actions. It wasn't until the end of it all that I realized just how far she would go to get revenge. Your dad had a dentist conference to go to, he was still new in the field so he wanted to make some connections, I volunteered to take care of you, your sister and brothers overnight. By 9 all of you were completely out. I went to the guest room and was going over a case that I was working on. It was a big case, my first as a detective, and I wanted to get it right. I slept maybe a total of eight hours over the past two or three days. I was exhausted and I fell asleep. I didn't hear Jazmine open the door with the key that I forgot I gave her."

"We gave her, we let Jasmine babysit a couple of times and decided to give her a key, then we forgot about the key." Rebecca corrected.

Logan continued without acknowledging the statement, " I didn't hear her walk up the stairs, I didn't hear your sister cry, she was use to Jasmine so she may not have cried at all. I didn't hear her wince when her hair got caught in the crib; the strands of hair that made our case. I didn't hear her walk down the stairs, open the door, and walk out with your sister. You were 8 months so, you usually slept through the night. When I woke up the next morning to go and check on the two of you, she was gone. She was just gone. Lily was gone. I looked all over the house, hoping and praying that she had just climbed out of her crib. That she was just sleeping in one of the rooms. My search was hopeless, I had to start making calls. I called the police, then I called your parents, then I cried, and then I got up because I realized the crying wasn't helping anyone. We searched for months, everywhere and anywhere. The first place they checked was Jasmine's apartment, she was there, passed out from overdosing on a bunch of pills, but Lily wasn't there. She wouldn't give up any information, but she knew where she was, she knew and she wouldn't tell. She wouldn't tell because she wanted to hurt me. I've hated he ever since, I have never stopped looking, I look into it every three months." He had seen the change from sorrow to anger in her eyes as he relived the events of that horrible night, he saw the disgust in her eyes, he knew she would never see him the same. His insides were churning, then he felt it, he felt her hands grasping his. He looked up to see the tears streaming down her face, and her eyes were filled with the unbelievable.

"I love you Uncle Logan, no crazy lady is going to change that." His niece was unbelievable. She looked around at all of them, her eyes now filled with fire. "I'd like to change my original statement." Her parents look of pride changed to confusion at her words. " I _found_ her, I _found_ my long lost twin."

Please review. I'm hoping for another chapter this week. Thanks for reading.


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